We say often around the farm and on our social media platforms that we are a “seed to shelf” company – meaning that we literally handle every step in the life of our product, from the time it is planted as a seed until the vegetables are delivered to the store – or restaurant or wholesaler’s – shelf. Hence, “seed to shelf.” Generally, what we tend to talk about most in the seed to shelf concept is the span of time when the vegetables are in between the seed and the shelf – that is, the growing, picking, and packing of the vegetables.
However, while the farm in Yucatan is currently full-force growing, picking, and packing, now is the time of year in Georgia when we focus intently on the seed part of the “seed to shelf” statement. Certainly, we must focus on it again in the summer in preparation for the fall, and then also on the farms in Tennessee and Yucatan as we prepare for the summer and winter crops. But the winter months in Georgia are the time when we are gearing up for the spring. That means we are currently seeding full steam ahead.
Seeding starts in November for our earliest cabbage crop and then we seed all the way through April finishing up with our latest cabbage crop. Since we do grow other crops besides cabbage, all in between those months we are seeding the rest of our vegetables – cucumbers, squash, pepper, eggplant. For spring season alone this year, we will seed a total of 14,538,316 vegetable seeds.
Yes. You read that right. Almost 15 million seeds!
Plants such as cabbage will take up to six months from seed to harvest while cucumbers and squash take as little as sixty days to get from seed to fruit. Seedlings generally stay in our greenhouses somewhere between four to six weeks before we transplant them into the soil. And of course, we stagger our planting dates so we have a steady supply of vegetables over the course of the growing season. This means there is a constant influx of seeds into and departure of seedlings from the greenhouse this time of year. By the time spring season rolls around, we will have filled up, emptied, and then filled again all six of our greenhouses.
While you might never stop and think about it, the seeding, planting, and picking schedule requires LOTS of intense planning. You wouldn’t believe the spreadsheets we’ve created that revolve around seed dates, plant dates, and harvest dates, as well as seed ordering dates and planting and harvesting zones. It’s enough to make my head spin and wonder how anyone keeps it straight.
Like a well-oiled machine, years of experience have resulted in the art of seeding and harvesting becoming a fine science at Southern Valley. That is if Mother Nature and a Sovereign God don’t constantly change those plans…which of course, they do. And when they do, we do everything in our power – as always – to ensure that only the best product grown from our seed makes it to your